The Gauntlet
by ArdenElear
Summary: A farewell, a beginning


Title: The Gauntlet.

Subject:  A farewell.  A beginning.

Author:  Arden.  

Subject:  LOTR: The Fellowship of the Ring (DVD; Extended Version)

Date: 7/Nov/2003.

Spoilers/Warnings:  None.

****

The small, sad boat spun slowly away into the current. Arm raised, he pulled the buckle tight and thought, _And now it has come._

He could sense the presence of the others close behind and the sense of urgency washed over him, but he ignored it, instead choosing to take for himself this small moment before it was swept away by the approaching tide.

A lifetime have I spent in taut refusal to heed the counsel of the wise and yet now, here I stand, taking up at last the spinning of the thread to which I was born.  And how?  At the behest of a man, of all the creatures of Middle Earth, a _man!   Weak and tainted, I thought them to be.  As I myself am tainted.  And yet, I listened and have chosen._

The boat grew closer to the centre of the river, the main current grabbed it and turned it about to point the prow toward the falls.  The boat glided forward, inexorably.  He lowered his arm, satisfied with the fit.

A lifetime spent in the company of Elves leaves little room for tolerance of the failings of Men. My failings were mine alone and I saw no kinship in the weakness of Men.  I am ashamed.  

Newly arrived in the house of Elrond, he thought he had found a fellow, a man like himself, and that he might find comfort in this meeting, in a place where all was strange and unfamiliar to a warrior of Gondor.  

But all he had found was a creature of fear and doubt, and a betrayal.  He called me 'friend'.  I should not have lied.  

But then he began to see what I could not, _would_ not, see.  He saw _chance in my blood.  Hope, not taint, as I did.  Despite all he had been taught he came to _believe_ and for my part I began to see what men _could_ be, though still did I fight against it.  _

Fear drove me, which is in itself a weakness and, in my arrogance, I named them 'his' people and refused to make them my own.  He called me coward then.  '_Hiding in shadows', he said.  And he was right.  _

I could see it taking him, drawing him ever closer to madness and I feared for us all, and for myself.  He could not resist the sirens' lure, he was only a _man_!   What chance then for me?  I, with the blood of Isildur like poison in my veins.  I should have had more faith.

Swifter now, the current tugged at the bier and it glided downstream, the mist rising up to meet it as it headed for the falls.

But resist it he did, in the end.  It took him and smashed him down upon the rocks of his own pride, shattering his belief in himself.  But his honesty saved him.  He knew what he had done, he redeemed himself.  And, by grabbing from the chaos a victory, he redeemed me, also.

For he has proven to me, beyond shadow, beyond doubt, that men can prevail.  There is goodness, there is courage and where these two things exist, there is always hope.

_"I shall not let the White City fall, nor our people fail."_

_"Our?"  "Our people."  _And he smiled then.  What comfort to be found in such a small word.  What victory is there in death, 'less it be in the knowledge that the gauntlet is taken up and a beloved people protected.  That in dying a King is returned, with hope rekindled by the act of bearing witness to such sacrifice. 

I promised him, and I shall do no less, offer no less that he has done this day.  I will give all to the victory; even unto the ending of my life.  

They _are 'our' people, Boromir and you __are my brother and I take up your gauntlets as both a promise and as a remembrance of your gift to me.  With your selfless act of redemption, with your steadfastness in the face of defeat, though it cost you your life, you have brought me to a belief in the world of Men and I shall honour that trust with my life and _all_ my life._

_Go in peace, man of Gondor.  _He addressed the boat silently as it spun and dipped.  Then he watched as it disappeared over the lip of the falls.  _May the swift waters carry you home._


End file.
